Top Items:
Noah Shachtman / Foreign Policy:
Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say — Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit …
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Wall Street Journal:
U.S. leaks tell Assad he can relax. The bombing will be brief and limited. — An American military attack on Syria could begin as early as Thursday and will involve three days of missile strikes, according to “senior U.S. officials” talking to NBC News. The Washington Post has the bombing at …
Discussion:
National Review, Weekly Standard, msnbc.com, Betsy's Page, NPR and Sense of Events
Max Fisher / WorldViews:
Here's why Obama is giving up the element of surprise in Syria — Military thinkers from Sun Tzu to Napoleon Bonaparte have long emphasized the element of surprise. So it might seem strange that the Obama administration is not just clearly telegraphing that it likely plans to launch limited strikes …
New York Times:
Arab League Stance Muddies U.S. Case — A rebel fighter of the Free Syrian Army took cover inside a damaged shop in the old city of Aleppo, in northern Syria, on Tuesday. — CAIRO — The leaders of the Arab world on Tuesday blamed the Syrian government for a chemical weapons attack …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, WorldViews, Reuters, Defense One and Business Insider
Lara Seligman / The Hill:
McCain scolds White House for ‘crazy’ leaks on Syria air strikes
McCain scolds White House for ‘crazy’ leaks on Syria air strikes
Discussion:
Politico
Ian Hurd / New York Times:
Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal
Bomb Syria, Even if It Is Illegal
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, Guardian, Telegraph, Real Clear Politics, The Heritage Foundation and NPR
John Parkinson / ABC News:
Growing Bipartisan Coalition Urges Obama to Seek Congressional Authorization for Syrian Strike — A growing bipartisan coalition in Congress is coming together to “strongly urge” President Obama “to consult and receive authorization from Congress before ordering the use of U.S. military force in Syria.”
Discussion:
democrats.com
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Politico:
Immigration reform's No. 1 enemy: Time — Immigration reform advocates have a new enemy: the congressional calendar. — Fall's fiscal fights have lined up in a way that could delay immigration reform until 2014, multiple senior House Republican leadership aides tell POLITICO …
Discussion:
New York Times and Daily Kos
Emma Dumain / Goppers:
If Obama Bypasses Congress on Syria, Will He Face Consequences?
If Obama Bypasses Congress on Syria, Will He Face Consequences?
Discussion:
The Week, The World's Greatest … and The Plum Line
kff.org:
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: August 2013 — As outreach efforts for enrollment in the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) increase over the summer, the August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the public's most trusted sources of information on the law …
Discussion:
First Read, CNN, ThinkProgress, Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Washington Wire, National Review, The Fix, AMERICAblog News, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos and NPR
Zach Carter / The Huffington Post:
Taxpayer Dollars Paid A Third Of Richest Corporate CEOs: Report — WASHINGTON — More than one-third of the nation's highest-paid CEOs from the past two decades led companies that were subsidized by American taxpayers, according to a report released Wednesday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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Reuters:
Exclusive: U.S. delays deadline for finalizing Obamacare health plans — (Reuters) - The Obama administration has delayed a step crucial to the launch of the new healthcare law, the signing of final agreements with insurance plans to be sold on federal health insurance exchanges starting October 1.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, AL.com, National Review, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers and Weekly Standard
New York Post:
Weiner paid for phony supporters at campaign events, source says — Anthony Weiner is having such a hard time generating support for his limp campaign that he has resorted to paying a rent-a-crowd firm to provide “supporters” for his events, The Post has learned.
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller, National Review, Weasel Zippers, NY Daily News and Jammie Wearing Fools
Josh Schiller / Washington Post:
Why you won't see or hear the ‘I have a dream’ speech — Josh Schiller is an associate in the New York offices of Boies Schiller & Flexner who has represented plaintiffs and defendants in copyright infringement lawsuits. — Fifty years ago this week, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech.
Discussion:
Techdirt, Hit & Run, Poynter and Post Politics, more at Mediagazer »
Groupthink:
Solidarity is For Miley Cyrus: The Racial Implications of her VMA Performance — As a black woman, I feel like I owe a debt of gratitude to Mikki Kendall, of Solidarity Is For White Women fame for managing to so perfectly encapsulate years of subjugation of black women by white women.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, CNN, The Daily Caller, Power Line, Mediaite, Guardian and Colorlines
John McWhorter / Wall Street Journal:
A Better Way to Honor Dr. King's Dream — The goal of the civil-rights movement was opportunity—not a ‘post-racial’ society. — On the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, we will hear a good deal about how life in this country for black Americans has not changed as much as Martin Luther King Jr. might have wished.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, National Review, The Week, The Hinterland Gazette and Gawker
Kaitlyn Schallhorn / Red Alert Politics:
Rep. Steve King calls on unemployed Americans to get off their butts and start working — Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) is making no excuses for unemployed Americans, urging them to get off their butts and start working, and criticizing the unemployed for failing to contribute to the standard of living.
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Right Wing Watch
Alex Weprin / TVNewser:
August 2013 Ratings: MSNBC Down Double Digits — MSNBC continued its rough 2013 in the ratings, continuing to lose significant audience from 2012. The problems were particularly prevalent in primetime, with some shows losing close to -50% of viewers. — The ratings for August 2013 (Nielsen Live + Same Day data):
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters, The Daily Caller, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and Washington Free Beacon
Ben S. Carson / Washington Times:
MLK would be alarmed by black-on-black violence, lack of family values — It is hard to believe that 50 years have elapsed since the famous “I have a dream speech” of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Mall in Washington. I was an 11-year-old child in Detroit languishing in the midst of poverty …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and TheBlaze.com
Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
People Who Need to Retire: Pat Robertson Edition — The 700 Club host falsely asserted that gay men in San Francisco use special rings to give AIDS to unsuspecting people who shake their hands. What year is it? — Dear people in public life: When you love your job …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, LGBTQ Nation and The Atlantic Wire
Tracy Connor / NBCNews:
Suspect in WWII vet slay: We were buying crack from victim — One of the teens charged with beating to death a World War II veteran allegedly claimed he was buying crack cocaine from the 88-year-old and the transaction turned violent — but cops said there is no evidence to support that.
Discussion:
Daily Mail, National Review, Jammie Wearing Fools, Scared Monkeys and Twitchy
Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
In Dramatic Reversal, Michigan Senate Passes Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion — The Michigan Senate voted Tuesday to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, extending health coverage to more than 400,000 low-income residents, but not without a little legislative drama first.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress
Boston Magazine:
Behind the Scenes of The Hunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — All photographs by Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Sean Murphy — It was likely the most terrifying manhunt in Boston history. With the city under lockdown and armored vehicles rolling through Watertown, the alleged Boston …
Discussion:
Global Grind, NPR, Guardian, CBS New York, NBCNews and TalkLeft
Wall Street Journal:
Leaker's Security Check Faulted — Review of Former NSA Contractor Snowden Found to be Inadequate — WASHINGTON—The most recent background check of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was so inadequate that too few people were interviewed and potential concerns weren't pursued …
Discussion:
Lawfare and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »
Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:
Fed-Up Saudis Look to Russia — Talk about a cry for help. The Saudis have apparently judged President Obama to be rudderless in his Middle East policies, judging by their recent diplomatic moves toward Russia: They appear to have plied Putin with a deal to collude in the global oil market …
Discussion:
Sense of Events
Elizabeth Warren / Boston Herald:
Battenfeld: Outspoken Liz Warren stays silent on Syria — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been on the warpath against banks since going to Washington, but when it comes to launching a war against Syria, she and other liberal Massachusetts Democrats suddenly don't have much to say.
Discussion:
New York Times and Connecting.the.Dots
Stevengoddard / Real Science:
Mildest US Summer In A Century — This summer, the US has experienced the fewest number of 100 degree readings in a century. The five hottest summers (1936, 1934, 1954, 1980 and 1930) all occurred with CO2 below 350 PPM. — CO2 went over 400 PPM this year, indicating that heatwaves and CO2 have nothing to do with each other.
Discussion:
Power Line
Tina Daunt / Hollywood Reporter:
Matt Damon, Ben Affleck to Co-Host Cory Booker Fundraiser (Exclusive) — JJ Abrams, Michael Eisner and Ted Sarandos will also co-host the event at Ron Burkle's house, marking the second major Hollywood fundraiser in the New Jersey Democrat's run for the U.S. Senate.
Discussion:
Ballot Box
Fox News:
Obama proceeds in Syria without popular support — What happens when American military action has neither public support nor congressional approval? Looks like we're getting ready to find out. — Americans did not much like President Obama's 2011 decision to intervene in the Libyan civil war …